Portable livestock feeder/shelter

ABSTRACT

A portable livestock feeder/shelter which has one end generally open and is generally unfloored with a plurality of new and novel feeding means formed within the shelter. The feeding means serve to structurally reinforce the feeder/shelter while providing means for self-feeding various feeds such as hay, grains or the like to the livestock using the shelter. The feeder means comprises an upper feeder in the form of a horizontal hayloft in combination with a lower feeder which may contain a quantity of grain or other similar material. Also contained in the unique building is storage space for the various vitamins or other items used in the care of the livestock. A portable structure is desirable so that it may be transported with a small tractor from one place on a field to another using skids formed on the structure. The structure can also be moved on public highways with the use of a removable transverse bar and low tendem dolly wheels attached to the posterior portions of the skid bars formed on the bottom of the structure and within limitations placed by law specified in special hauling permits.

United States Patent Gregory PORTABLE LIVESTOCK FEEDER/ SHELTER PrimaryExaminer-Hugh R. Chamblee Attorney, Agent, or FirmNorvell E. Von Behren[57] ABSTRACT A portable livestock feeder/shelter which has one endgenerally open and is generally unfloored with a plurality of new andnovel feeding means formed within the shelter. The feeding means serveto structurally reinforce the feeder/shelter while providing means forself-feeding various feeds such as hay, grains or the like to thelivestock using the shelter.

The feeder means comprises an upper feeder in the form of a horizontalhayloft in combination with a lower feeder which may contain a quantityof grain or other similar material. Also contained in the uniquebuilding is storage space for the various vitamins or other items usedin the care of the livestock. A portable structure is desirable so thatit may be transported with a small tract-or from one place on a field toanother using skids formed on the structure. The structure can also bemoved on public highways with the use of a removable transverse bar andlow tendem dolly wheels attached to the posterior portions of the skidbars formed on the bottom of the structure and within limitations placedby law specified in special hauling permits.

12 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PORTABLE LIVESTOCK FEEDER/ SHELTERBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to portablelivestock structures and more particularly to a new and novel portablelivestock feeder/shelter which can be utilized for the self-feeding ofthe livestock and which can be relocated to a different portion of theusers field or pasture when conditions dictate such relocation.

In the care and feeding of livestock such as horses, cows, pigs or thelike, it is known to provide permanent feeders and permanent sheltersfor the livestock at various locations on the farm or ranch of theowner. For example, it is known to feed livestock from permanent openedtroughs which are generally located near the barn or operationalfacilities of the farm for easy access of the farmer. It is also knownto provide permanent shelters such as stalls, mangers or the like, forthe she]- ter of the livestock with the shelters being either locatedinside of the owner's barn or in separate buildings all generallylocated in close proximity to the barn and feeding facilities.

Such feeding and sheltering facilities, while satisfac' tory for thefull-time farmer or ranch owner, generally are not satisfactory for theweekend farmer or horse owner who must resort to other ways to feed andshelter his livestock when he does not own such elaborate facilitiessuch as barns and other sophisticated feeding and shelter facilities.For example, the weekend rancher or horseman may purchase several acresin the country for the express purpose of providing grazing land andexercise areas for his one or two horses which he is able to visit andspend time with only on weekends. In such a case, it becomes a burdenfor this type of rancher to have to travel daily the large distances tohis acreage in order to see that his horses and other livestock areappropriately fed. In cases such as this resort must be made to othermeans for automatically feeding and sheltering the animals during thetime when the owner is not able to attend to this task or during thetime when he does not have the financial abilities to hire someone tohandle the task for him.

It is known, for example, in the care and feeding of hogs and pigs, toprovide portable-type shelters for the care and feeding of the pigsbabypigs as typified in the U.S. Pat. No. 391,858, issued Oct. 30, 1888 toMC. & Z.S. Randleman. This type portable pig pen provides a separatearea for the baby pigs to lie down and rest whenever the mother pig islying in the main area of the pig pen thereby preventing the mother pigfrom rolling over and destroying her baby pigs. Such a portablestructure concept, while satisfactory for hogs and pigs, requiresconstant care and attention by the owner of the pigs inasmuch as the pigpen described contains one floor which must be constantly cleaned of thepig droppings in order to keep illnesses of the pigs at a minimum.

An improvement of this portable-type structure is shown in the U.S. Pat.No. 619,688, issued Feb. 14, 1899 to R3. Linn which also provides aremovable wooden floor which requires constant cleaning as beforementioned. A somewhat similar portable shelter is shown in the U.S. Pat.No. 2,712,677, issued July 12, 1955, to CM. Hyde which also requiresconstant care and attention in the form of cleaning inasmuch as thisstructure utilizes a plywood floor and is generally suitable only forpigs and hogs. In a like manner, the U.S.

Pat. No. 1,876,503, issued Sep. 6, 1932, to G.I. Hinsvark teaches a moresophisticated portable pig brooder house containing special compartmentsfor allowing the pigs to have a rest and play area without intrusion ofthe mother pig. This structure like the beforementioned structures alsocontains a wooden floor which needs constant care and attention by theowner of the pigs. In addition all of the beforementioned structures aredevoid of any automatic self-feeding means which allow the owner of thelivestock to be absent from the livestock for a predetermined length oftime.

Selffeeding means have been utilized with portable building structuresas typified in the U.S. Pat. No. 1,433,777, issued Oct. 31, 1922, toW.R. Brown wherein an open-ended building may be positioned against apile of hay allowing for the self-feeding of cattle whenever the door onthe opposite end of the building is opened. The subject building alsohas provisions for closing the opened end of the building and utilizingthe building as a grain storage building during harvest time. As aresult of utilizing this building for grain storage, a floor must ofnecessity be formed in the building which dictates that whenever thebuilding is used as a self hay feeder for cattle, the building wouldrequire constant cleaning from the droppings of the cattle onto thefloor of the building. In addition, a building as taught by this patent,only provides for the self-feedin g of one type of food and only afterthe owner has opened the door on the building which requires constantattention of the owner to the feeding of the cattle. A somewhat modifiedform of the self-feeder is taught in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,269,357, issuedAug. 30, 1966, to E.A. Rezabek wherein there is provided a portable hogand pig feeder which contains individual selffeeding troughs for the sowand also for the baby pigs. This feeder also contains a floor that needsconstant cleaning from the pig droppings, however, easy access to thebuilding for cleaning purposes is provided by hinging the building asshown in FIG. 8 of the drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to overcome the problems anddifficulties inherent in the prior art structures hereinbefore describedand in order to provide a more suitable structure for the self-feedingof livestock, there is provided by the subject invention a new and novelportable livestock feeder/shelter which is formed as a generallyenclosed structure having one end generally open with the structurebeing generally unfloored. The structure has formed on the bottomthereof a skid surface which allows the structure to be easily movedfrom one location to another location within the field or pasture of theowner of the shelter so that whenever the animal droppings accumulatewithin the shelter, the shelter may be readily moved to anotherlocation. This feature also is advantageous in that the formation of muddeposits commonly found around feeding areas and the proliferation ofintestional parasites is largely avoided since the shelter may bereadily moved.

Formed within the new and novel portable structure are upper feedermeans in the form of a generally horizontal hayloft which is formed inthe upper portion of the structure with the hayloft having means fordispensing hay from the loft to the livestock using the structure. Alsoformed on the structure are lower feeder means in the form of agenerally enclosed grain bin which has formed on the interior and lowerportion thereof means for dispensing the grain stored within the bin tothe livestock using the structure.

Accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide a new and novelportable livestock feeder/shelter which is constructed as a generallyenclosed structure having one open end with the structure beingunfloored thereby alleviating the cleaning problems inherent in priorart structures.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and novel portablelivestock feeder/shelter which contains a plurality of feeder means forproviding automatic feeding means to the livestock using the structure.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a new and novelportable livestock feeder/shelter which utilizes a plurality of feedermeans as an integral part to reinforce the shelter thereby eliminatingthe need for special interior structural supports and cross-bracings.

Still yet another object of the invention is to provide a new and novelportable livestock feeder/shelter which may be easily transported fromone position to another position in the owners pasture and also may beeasily transported by means of removable wheels over the highways fromone location to another location.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a new and novelportable livestock feeder/shelter which may be easily prefabricated andsold in a kit form for assembly by a weekend farmer or rancher having aspecific need for such a portable feeder/shelter.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel feeder/shelterthat has unique crossbar gates at appropriate levels across the open endof the structure which allows the structure to be used as a creep feederfor colts or calves.

A further object is to provide torsional stability to the structure bythe use of the U-shaped steel skid taught by the preferred embodiment.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from a review of the draw ings showing the preferred embodimentand from a study of the description detailing the preferred embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of thenew and novel portable livestock feeder/shelter with a corner of theshelter shown broken away to detail the upper and lower feeder means ofthe subject invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the new and novel portable livestockfeeder/shelter, taken along Line 2-2 of FIG. 1, showing the interior ofthe subject shelter;

FIG. 3 is a section view, taken along Line 33 of FIG. 2, showing theupper feeder means in the form of a hayloft and also showing the lowerfeeder means in the form of a grain bin with both feeder means havingdispensing means contained therein for dispensing the hay or graincontained within the respective feeders; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the new and novel portable livestockfeeder/shelter showing the shelter being moved with a wrecker truck andby means of the portable wheels removably attached to the inside of thestructure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now generally to thedrawings and in particular to FIGS. 1 and 3 of the drawings there isshown in FIG. 1, generally by the numeral 10, the portable livestockfeeder/shelter of the subject invention which comprises a generallyenclosed structure comprising a pair of side walls 12 and 14 fixedlyattached to an end wall 16 by means well known in the art. Also fixedlyat tached to the side walls 12 and I4 and the end wall 16 is a roof 18formed of plastic or other suitable roofing material. In the preferredembodiment, the roof I8 is formed of known translucent plastic materialsto allow more light to be present within the portable feeder/shelter 10.The roof 18 is supported by a plurality of roof joists 20 by means wellknown in the art and is fixedly attached to the side walls 12 and 14 andalso the end wall 16 by known fastening means.

The generally enclosed structure 10 is generally open on the endopposite the end wall 16 and also contains no floor as is usuallycontained in the before-mentioned prior art structures. Formed in theupper portion of the shelter 10 is an upper feeder means 22 in the formof a generally horizontal hayloft which is formed by fixedly attaching aplurality of wooden beams 24 between the side walls 12 and 14 andfixedly attaching thereto a plywood floor 26.

By referring to FIG. 3 of the drawing it will be seen that the hayloftor upper feeder means 22 extends approximately two-thirds of the lengthof the feeder/shelter for the purposes which will be detailed more fullyhereinafter. Also referring to FIG. 3 of the drawing, it will be noticedthat there is formed in the forward portion of the shelter a lowerfeeder means 28 in the form of a generally enclosed grain bin having apair of elongated sides 30 and 32 with a sloped bottom portion 34 and ahinged filler door 36 pivotally mounted by means well known in the artto the upper portion of the grain bin. Formed on the lower portion ofthe grain bin or lower feeder means 28 is a dispensing valve 38 in theform of an elongated gate which is hingedly attached at 40 to the slopedbottom portion 34 of the grain bin. The valve 38 serves as a means forautomatically dispensing grain to the livestock using the structurewhenever the valve is shown in the vertical solid position shown in FIG.3. When it is desired to control the amount of grain flowing from thegrain bin 28, the valve 38 may be positioned in the horizontal positionshown by the dash line in FIG. 3 and held in place by means of a movablestop 42.

Formed beneath the grain bin 28 is an open trough 44 which serves as areceptacle for the grain flowing from the grain bin 28 by means ofgravity flow. The trough 44 is formed on the top of a storage means 46which may be utilized to store a plurality of salt blocks 48 or thevarious vitamins used in the care and feeding of livestock. Access tothe storage means 46 is provided by a door 50 which is hinged by meansof a pair of hinges 52 to the inside trough support wall 53. When formedin this manner the door 50 may be hinged upwardly to the generallyhorizontal position shown in FIG. 3 of the drawing to provide access tothe storage means 46 and may also contain locking means for locking thecontents of the storage means from unwanted intrusion by other than theowner of the structure. Access to the grain bin 28 for purposes offilling the bin with grain is provided by means of a hinged door 54which is hinged by a plurality of hinges 56 fixedly attached to theupper portion of the end wall 16. When formed in this manner, the door54 may be swung upwardly to the generally horizontal position shown FIG.3 to provide access to the grain bin 28 whenever the grain bin fillerdoor 36 is hinged upwardly in the inclined position shown by the dashlines in FIG. 3 of the drawings. By forming the grain bin filler door 36in the top of the grain bin 28, more grain may be stored in the grainbin allowing the feeder/shelter to be used for a greater length of timewithout refilling the grain bin.

As before mentioned the hayloft 22 extends approximately two-thirds ofthe length of the feeder/shelter and has formed between the end 58 ofthe hayloft and the central portion 60 of the grain bin a generallyelongated grill or grating 62 which serves to allow a portion of the haycontained in the hayloft to be exposed to the livestock utilizing theshelter so that they can reach upwardly and eat the hay contained in thehayloft. The grill 62 is fixedly attached to the end of the hayloft 58by means of an angle bracket 64 and is fixedly attached to the centralportion 60 of the grain bin by means of an angle bracket 66.

Referring now generally to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 it will be seen that thefeeder/shelter of the subject invention has formed on the bottom thereofa skid surface in the form of a U-shaped skid shown generally by thenumeral 68 which comprises a pair of steel side channels 70 and 72 whichare welded to a pair of end channels 74 and 76 by means well known inthe art. The end channel 76 has welded thereto an eyelet 78 extendinggenerally horizontal to the ground and extending in front of the endwall 16 for the purposes which will be described more fully hereinafter.

From a review of the drawing FIGS. 1 through 3 it can be seen that theside channels 70 and 72 generally support the side walls 12 and 14 whichare attached thereto by means of a plurality of bolts not shown in thedrawing and the end channels 74 and 76 generally support the grain binstructure 28 as well as the storage means 46 and the contents of thematerial contained in the grain bin and the storage means. Since thegrain bin 28 generally is constructed running the entire width of thefeeder/shelter l0 and is fixedly attached to the side walls 12 and 14 asshown in FIG. 1 of the drawing, it can be seen that the grain bin 28adds structural support to the feeder/shelter structure in combinationwith the hayloft 22 which also generally runs the entire width of thefeeder/shelter structure and is also rigidly attached to the side walls12 and 14.

Formed on the open ended portion of the structure and pivotally mountedthereto are restraining means 80 in the form of a pipe rail which iscarried by means of the pipe brackets 82. The restraining means 80 maybe utilized to close off the open end of the structure 10 to preventunwanted livestock from entering the feeder/shelter whenever this isdesirous. For example whenever the owner of the shelter wishes to allowbaby calves to feed in the feeder/shelter without allowing the largercows access to the feed, he simply closes the pipe gate across the endof the structure 10 after the calves have entered the feeder. Wheneverthe calves have finished feeding, the pipe gate 80 can be swung open toallow the remaining cattle to use the shelter without hindering thefeeding of the young calves. The pipe gates 80 may also be formed as asingle gate spanning the open end within the spirit and scope of theinvention.

While in the preferred embodiment the grain bin 28 is constructed as oneelongated grain bin running the entire width of the end wall 16, it isalso within the spirit and scope of the invention that the grain bin 28could be subdivided into a series of smaller grain bins by means of aplurality of vertical partitions inserted within the grain bin therebyallowing the grain bin to be utilized to handle various types of grainssuch as oats, corn, barley or the like if this is desired by the owner.With a modification such as this, each grain bin would have its owndispensing valve 38 for dispensing the particular grain contained withinthat bin. In the preferred embodiment it is also advantageous toconstruct the grain bin 28 by lining it with sheet metal to preventaccess to the bins from rats, field mice or the like. The sheet metalwould be applied to the inside of the bin on sides 30, 32, 34 as well asto the underside of the filler door 36 and to the inside surface of thevalve 38. In addition sheet metal would be applied to the ends of thegrain bin where the grain bin is fixedly attached to the side walls 12and 14. When constructed thusly, the entire grain bin is sheet-metalenclosed which prevents rodents from entering the grain bin and feedingon the grain contained in the bin as long as the valve means 38 is inthe generally horizontal position shown by the dash line in FIG. 3.

Referring now to FIG. 4 of the drawing there is shown a perspective viewof the new and novel portable feeder/shelter showing the shelterattached to a wrecker truck 84 by means of a solid bar 86 which isremovably attached at 87 to the pickup truck bumper 88 on one end andalso is removably attached to the generally horizontal eyelet 78 fixedto the end channel 76. Prior to this the wrecker truck 84 had lifted theclosed end of the shelter off of the ground by means of the wreckerchain 89 as shown in FIG. 4.

Whenever it is desirous to move the portable feeder/shelter over ahighway, a beam or steel rod 90 is positioned in a pair of mating; holes91 formed in the rear portion of the side channels and 72 as shown inFIG. 4 of the drawing. Thereupon a portable removable wheel means, showngenerally by the numeral 92 may be inserted underneath the beam afterthe open end 93 of the feeder/shelter has been raised in the air by wellknown lifting means a sufficient amount to allow the beam 90 to restupon a pair of bars 94 rigidly attached to a pair of tandum dolly wheels95 which are in turn rotatably mounted on axles 96. By raising the frontend of the portable feeder/shelter off of the ground a sufficient amountby means of the chain 89, it can be seen that the entire structure canbe transported over the highways by means of the wrecker truck 84 to adesired location whereupon the chain 89 and the bar 86 are removed andthe portable wheel means 92 is also removed from the structure alongwith the beam 90.

Thereafter whenever it is desirous to relocate the structure to anotherpart of the pasture the wrecker truck 84 or some other means such as atractor can simply pull the structure after fastening a chain to thehorizontal eyelet 78. Since the structure has formed on the bottomthereof a skid surface such as the generally U-shaped skid 68, it isunnecessary to utilize the portable wheel means 92 whenever relocatingthe structure within the owners field or pasture. By forming thestructure without a floor, cleaning of the structure becomes unnecessaryinasmuch as the structure can be towed to a clean area whenever thedroppings from the livestock have accumulated sufficiently on the groundwithin the shelter enclosure.

It has been found from experimentation that whenever the feeder/shelteris formed so that the width of the end wall 16 is approximately 10 to 12feet and the length of the side walls 12 and 14 is approximately 15feet, then the feeder has capabilities of being able to self-feed, forexample, two horses for a period of from one to two weeks with at leastbales of hay being able to be stored in the hayloft and possibly 1000pounds of grain being stored in the grain bin. From the foregoing it canbe seen that there has been provided by the subject invention a new andnovel portable livestock feeder/shelter which may be easily contructedand also may be easily prefabricated for shipment to the livestockowner. The subject structure contains a plurality of unique feedingmeans which serve as selffeeders for the livestock utilizing thestructure and also serve as structural reinforcements to the outsideshell of the structure. The unique feeder/shelter of the subjectinvention may be positioned at one location in the owners pasture andmay be easily relocated to another position by pulling the structure onthe self-contained skids or skid surface formed on the bottom thereofthereby eliminating the necessity for cleaning the structure from thedroppings of the livestock utilizing the structure. The position andlocation of the hayloft and grain feeder tends to insure that thedroppings from the animals using the shelter are located away from thegrain feed bin and near the open end of the shelter and not in theanimals grain feed bin as is common in other types of shelter. Thesubject structure may also be easily transported from one location to aremote location over the highways by using the portable wheel meanswhich are easily positioned underneath the structure.

It should now become obvious that the objects and advantages of theinvention have been accomplished by the new and novel structure hereintaught. Nevertheless, it is apparent that many changes may be made inthe structure and in the arrangement of the parts of the structurewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and theinvention is not to be limited to the preferred embodiment shown anddescribed which has been given by way of illustration only. Havingdescribed the invention, I claim: 1. A portable livestock unflooredfeeder/shelter comprising a partially enclosed and unfloored uprightstructure mounted on underlying surface means and having opposed andspaced side wall means, end wall means having inside surface means andextending between and connected to the opposed side wall means, roofmeans extending between and connected to the end wall means and theopposed side wall means; said structure having an open end for freeingress and egress of livestock and disposed between the opposed sidewall means and between said roof means and the underlying surface means,the open end being arranged in opposed and spaced relation to the endwall means; hayloft means disposed beneath said roof means and extendingbetween and connected to the opposed side wall means, said hayloft meansextending in a direction from the open end toward but spaced from theend wall means;

grain bin and feeder means mounted on the inside surface means of theend wall means and extending between and connected to the opposite sidewall means;

grate means for dispensing hay from the hayloft means to livestockextending between and connected to the opposed side wall means andbetween and connected to said hayloft means and side grain bin andfeeder means; and

said hayloft means, said grain bin and feeder means and said grate meansrigidifying said structure so as to maintain the integrity of saidstructure throughout normal use of said structure at a location andmovement of said structure from one location to another.

2. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 1 further comprising saidgrain bin and feeder means having an upper portion and a lower portion,a filler door attached to the upper portion and the lower portionincluding valve means for controlling the flow of grain out of the grainbin and feeder means.

3. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 2 further comprising saidgrain bin and feeder means including an open trough formed under thevalve means for receiving the grain, the trough being disposed beneathsaid grate means.

4. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 2 further comprising saidgrain bin and feeder means having an interior and an inside lining ofsheet metal for sealing the interior of the grain bin and feeder means.

5. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 2 further comprising saidstructure having an exterior access door for access to the filler doorand for effecting filling of the grain bin and feeder means.

6. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 1 further comprising storagemeans formed below said grain bin and feeder means.

7. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 6 futher comprising door meansformed on the storage means to provide access to the storage means.

8. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 1 wherein said underlyingsurface means includes U-shaped skid means mounted on bottom edges ofsaid opposed wall means.

9. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 8 wherein towing and liftingmeans is connected to the end wall means for effecting movement of saidstructure from one location to another.

10. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 8 wherein removable wheelmeans is mounted on said structure for effecting movement of saidstructure from one location to another.

11. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 1 wherein said structure hasan interior between the opposed side wall means; and restraining meansis mounted on at least one of the opposed side wall means forselectively closing the open end of said structure so as to prevent theentrance of livestock into the interior of said structure.

12. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 1 1 wherein said restrainingmeans includes a gate hingedly attached to one of the opposed side wallmeans.

'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION 0 PATENT NO.3,855,524L

DATED May 27, 975

INVENTOR(S) 3 Arthur B. Gregory It is certified that error appears inthe above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:'

In the Specification, 001.1, Line 59 Change "Feb." to --February- InClaim 1, 001.8, Line 9 Change "side" to --said 9 t Signed and Sealedthis thirteenth Day of April1976 [SEAL] Altest. U

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN Arresting Officer (mnmr'ssionoruj'lareirls and Trademarks

1. A portable livestock unfloored feeder/shelter comprising a partiallyenclosed and unfloored upright structure mounted on underlying surfacemeans and having opposed and spaced side wall means, end wall meanshaving inside surface means and extending between and connected to theopposed side wall means, roof means extending between and connected tothe end wall means and the opposed side wall means; said structurehaving an open end for free ingress and egress of livestock and disposedbetween the opposed side wall means and between said roof means and theunderlying surface means, the open end being arranged in opposed andspaced relation to the end wall means; hayloft means disposed beneathsaid roof means and extending between and connected to the opposed sidewall means, said hayloft means extending in a direction from the openend toward but spaced from the end wall means; grain bin and feedermeans mounted on the inside surface means of the end wall means andextending between and connected to the opposite side wall means; gratemeans for dispensing hay from the hayloft means to livestock extendingbetween and connected to the opposed side wall means and between andconnected to said hayloft means and side grain bin and feeder means; andsaid hayloft means, said grain bin and feeder means and said grate meansrigidifying said structure so as to maintain the integrity of saidstructure throughout normal use of said structure at a location andmovement of said structure from one location to another.
 2. Thefeeder/shelter as defined in claim 1 further comprising said grain binand feeder means having an upper portion and a lower portion, a fillerdoor attached to the upper portion and the lower portion including valvemeans for controlling the flow of grain out of the grain bin and feedermeans.
 3. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 2 further comprisingsaid grain bin and feeder means including an open trough formed underthe valve means for receiving the grain, the trough being disposedbeneath said grate means.
 4. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 2further comprising said grain bin and feeder means having an interiorand an inside lining of sheet metal for sealing the interior of thegrain bin and feeder means.
 5. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 2further comprising said structure having an exterior access door foraccess to the filler door and for effecting filling of the grain bin andfeeder means.
 6. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 1 furthercomprising storage means formed below said grain bin and feeder means.7. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 6 futher comprising door meansformed on the storage means to provide access to the storage means. 8.The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 1 wherein said underlying surfacemeans includes U-shaped skid means mounted on bottom edges of saidopposed wall means.
 9. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 8 whereintowing and lifting means is connected to the end wall means foreffecting movement of said structure from one location to another. 10.The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 8 wherein removable wheel meansis mounted on said structure for effecting movement of said structurefrom one location to another.
 11. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim1 wherein said structure has an interior between the opposed side wallmeans; and restraining means is mounted on at least one of the opposedside wall means for selectively closing the open end of said structureso as to prevent the entrance of livestock into the interior of saidstructure.
 12. The feeder/shelter as defined in claim 11 wherein saidrestraining means includes a gate hingedly attached to one of theopposed side wall means.